Every time I see a good concert or musical, I am on a natural high for at least a week. A few are standouts, and even if the show didn't knock my socks off, it's almost always a pleasant experience that leaves me feeling good about life and myself as well.

Give Senator Mark Warner a star for enunciating some insightful thoughts. No, give him five stars, for he got it absolutely right the other day when he said the emphasis in the campaign to re-jigger health care has been wrongheaded and that the main thing was runaway spending.

LAS VEGAS - Even the men who hand out "nude girls direct to your room" cards stopped their hawking long enough to do some gawking at the "stripper-mobile" as it rolled down the Las Vegas Strip on this week.

PITTSBURGH - Amy Mee wasn't standing in front of the new Fred Rogers statue for long before she was interrupted by her 6-year-old daughter, Sarah.

"Take a picture of me sitting on his lap," said Sarah, bouncing with excitement. "I can fit there."

If Charlie Weis somehow manages to squirm out from under the proverbial ax, Notre Dame should consider naming him its CEO.

Since, in the financial world, CEOs are often rewarded for their failures, perhaps the university should toss its $4 million-a-year football coach a bonus as well.

If there is actually a devil, maybe financier Bernie Madoff really did make a deal with him -- it? -- the classic Faustian bargain.

After trying for laughs in Hollywood nightclubs, game shows and the Latino comedy TV circuit, comedian Ernie G. got a chance to make some staid business and government types chuckle at a National Council of La Raza conference a few years ago. He told them how he got to college.